Ratcheting straps can be used to secure a wide variety of objects to various support surfaces and/or to various other objects. Typically, such straps are used to keep an object from falling or moving relative to a vehicle during transport. Such ratcheting straps typically have two portions; a free strap sub-assembly, and a ratcheting strap sub-assembly. Each sub-assembly has a hook at one end which attaches to say an immovable feature in or on the vehicle. The free strap sub-assembly has a long webbing with its hook at one end. The ratcheting strap sub-assembly has a short webbing with its hook at one end and a ratcheting mechanism at the other end. The non-hook end of the free strap sub-assembly's long webbing is fed into the ratcheting sub-assembly and adjusted to near its intended final length, then the hooks are secured to the vehicle and the long webbing is wrapped loosely around the object and the ratcheting mechanism is activated to reel in the slack of the long webbing and tightly secure the object to the vehicle. Such ratcheting straps are exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,271,606 and 7,874,047, the entire teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Users feed the webbing into the ratcheting mechanism prior to use. Because prior art ratchet straps lack any effective means for efficiently and neatly being stored, except for rolling the webbing up around the ratcheting mechanism and wrapping with an elastic band or such, users often release and remove the webbing therefrom after every use. The two portions are then stored for future use by rolling up the free strap sub-assembly and placing it and the “dangly” ratcheting strap sub-assembly under the vehicle's seat or in the trunk.
Obviously, this storage arrangement poses problems, not limited to the inability to find both assemblies when needed, the unrolling of the free strap sub-assembly and tangling thereof with other items in nearby storage, the catching of one of the hooks on the underside of the car seat, the unrolling and tangling of the free strap sub-assembly with itself, the intrusion of sand and grime into the ratcheting mechanism and the resulting malfunction thereof caused thereby, and the general messiness caused by having such assemblies strewn about the vehicle.
An additional problem very familiar to users of such ratcheting straps is that a user's method of rolling up and storing the device is inconsistent, or typically differs from the next user's, and it is therefore cumbersome and confusing to properly reassemble the two assemblies into the same configuration. Even when the same object is to be secured in the same position in the same vehicle, it can take several minutes to arrange the ratcheting strap into the same configuration used the previous time.
Accordingly, there is a need, and it is an object of the invention, to provide a means for simply and consistently storing a ratcheting strap. There is a need, and it is an object of the invention, to provide such a means that allows the user to leave the ratcheting strap assemblies connected as last used during such storage. There is a need, and it is an object of the invention, to provide such a means that minimizes the space required for such storage. There is a need, and it is an object of the invention, to provide such a means that neatens such storage. There is a need, and it is an object of the invention, to provide such a means that prevents the hooks from getting caught on other features within the vehicle. There is a need, and it is an object of the invention, to provide such a means that protects the ratcheting strap, and particularly the ratcheting mechanism during such storage. There is a need, and it is an object of the invention, to provide such a means that is simply affixable to additional such means so that numerous such ratcheting straps may be stored compactly and neatly together.
Further needs and objects exist which are addressed by the present invention, as may become apparent by the included disclosure of an exemplary embodiment thereof.